Author: Editor

SUPER Eagles of Nigeria could still qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite disappointing results from their qualifiers. Nigeria’s qualification hopes have been given a potential lifeline following reports that South Africa may face points deduction for fielding an ineligible player in their 2-0 win over Lesotho. Nigeria, who failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, currently face an uphill battle. The Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, a result that dented their qualification chances. This followed an encouraging 2-0 victory over Rwanda in Kigali. The…

BRUNO Fernandes has emerged as a shock £90million target for Real Madrid. Daily Star Sport can reveal that Real, the most-successful club in the world, have been represented at virtually every Manchester United match recently – both at home and away. And the subject of their scouting missions is Old Trafford star Fernandes, 30, creating a major dilemma for the cash-strapped United hierarchy. United boss Ruben Amorim doesn’t want to lose his inspirational captain, but United’s desire to make cuts and raise money means they would have to consider a big offer for the midfielder. Real are planning a squad…

ISRAELI forces launch a new ground assault on Rafah in southern Gaza as the death toll from Israel’s attacks on Saturday rises to 24. This is as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says Israel has submitted a counter-proposal after Hamas said it had accepted a new ceasefire plan put forward by Egypt and Qatar. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza are set to observe another Eid al-Fitr with little to eat, as Ramadan draws to an end nearly one month after Israel blocked all food and other goods from entering the enclave. Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 50,277 Palestinians are…

THE death toll from a huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand passed 1,000 on Saturday, as rescuers dug through the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors. The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock. The quake destroyed buildings, downed bridges, and buckled roads across swathes of Myanmar, with massive destruction seen in Mandalay, the country’s second biggest city and home to more than 1.7 million people. “We need aid,” said Thar Aye, 68, a resident of Mandalay. “We…

SOUTH Africa’s former ambassador to the US has told the BBC it was “self-evident” that there was racism within the Trump administration. Ebrahim Rasool, 62, was ordered to leave the US last week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called him a “race-baiting politician who hates America”. This came after Rasool accused US President Donald Trump of trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle”. Asked by the BBC’s Newshour whether he believed the Trump administration was racist, Rasool said: “I think it is self-evident rather than anyone needing to be called out.” The BBC has approached the White…

GUINEA’s ruling junta has pardoned former military leader Moussa Dadis Camara, less than a year into a 20-year sentence for crimes against humanity linked to one of the country’s worst massacres. A decree read on state TV said the pardon had been granted for health reasons. In 2009, troops under his command opened fire during a rally calling for a return to civilian rule, killing more than 150 people. Scores of women were also raped. Camara seized power when long-time President Lansana Conté died in 2008. He fled following an assassination attempt not long after the massacre, but returned in…

THROUGHOUT history, leadership has never been measured by mere occupancy of office but by the ability to act decisively in the face of disorder. From the ancient philosopher-kings of Plato’s Republic, tasked with safeguarding justice, to Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which emphasizes preemptive action against internal threats, it has been clear that governance is not a passive role but an active duty. John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government reminds us that when those entrusted with power begin to subvert the institutions that sustain governance, superior authority must intervene to restore order. It is in this context that President Bola…

Q – A person owns a piece of land and one year has passed since he acquired it. Zakaah is due because it comes under the heading of trade goods (i.e., he bought it in order to sell it). How should he pay zakaah on it? Please note that he only has a little cash, very little? Shaheed Ahmad, Borno A – Zakkaah is due on trade goods according to the Qur’aan and Sunnah. In the Qur’aan this is indicated by the general meaning of the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “O you who believe! Spend…

THE qualification race for the 2026 World Cup is set to take place across Africa this week and early next week. In matchdays 5 and 6 qualifying fixtures in Africa, Nigeria’s Super Eagles will set to revive their dwindling hopes of reaching the US, Canada, and Mexico where the competition is billed to be held. Below are the fixtures for Matchday 5 and 6 across Africa: Matchday 5 March 19, Wednesday Group D: Eswatini v Cameroon; Group H: Liberia v Tunisia; Group I: Central African Republic v Madagascar (all 1600) March 20, Thursday Group A: Sierra Leone v Guinea-Bissau (1600);…

AT least two people were killed and 19 others wounded after an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of the southern Syrian province of Deraa, the Syrian state news agency, SANA, has reported. The Israeli military confirmed the strikes Monday night and said it was targeting military sites that contained weapons and vehicles that belonged to the forces of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Israeli army “is currently striking military targets in southern Syria, including command centres and military sites containing weapons and military vehicles belonging to the old Syrian regime,” an army statement said, adding that the “military…

UKRAINIAN forces launched a drone attack on southern Russia overnight, sparking a blaze at an oil refinery, local authorities said Monday, as Moscow launched a barrage of nearly 200 drones against Ukraine. The Ukrainian attack on the oil refinery in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region was the latest in a series of aerial strikes by both sides targeting energy facilities. Regional governor Igor Babushkin said staff of a “fuel and energy” complex were evacuated before the attack, which sparked a large blaze. “One person was wounded during the attack. The victim has now been taken to the hospital,” Babushkin wrote on…

RWANDA has cut diplomatic ties with Belgium, saying it has been “consistently undermined” by the European nation during the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brussels has been leading calls for European nations to sanction Rwanda over its support for the M23, a rebel group at the centre of DR Congo’s crisis. The authorities in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, have given Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country. Belgium, which is the former colonial power, has said it will respond to these measures and labelled Rwanda’s decision “disproportionate”. Despite assertions from the UN and US, Rwanda has denied…

A GROUP of scientists due to work together for months at a remote Antarctic research station has been rocked after a member of the team was accused of assault. About 10 researchers typically stay at the South African-run base, which sits about 170km (about 105 miles) from the edge of the ice shelf and is difficult to reach. But a spokesperson for the South African government told the BBC “there was an assault” at the station, following earlier allegations of inappropriate behaviour from inside the camp. In a further message seen by the BBC, the South African environment ministry said…

Q – What is the food that is permissible to give for Zakatul-Fitr? Nura Jamilu, Hadejia A – It is reported in the hadith that it is to be given from five things. They are wheat, barley, dried dates , raisins and cottage cheese. However, some of the research scholars have mentioned that specifying these five things was done because they were used at that time. Therefore, they permit giving it from whatever is the common food of the land like rice for example, and corn in the land where it is used as food and so forth. Q –…

FORMER Wimbledon and Aston Villa striker, John Fashanu has taken legal action against the Nigeria Police, demanding ₦200 million (£100,000) in compensation for what he describes as an unlawful arrest and violation of his rights. The 62-year-old, who was capped twice by England in international friendlies against Chile and Scotland in May 1989, was arrested alongside his wife, Vivian, and lawyer, Chinyere Chigbu, in connection with an ongoing land dispute. He is accused of criminal conspiracy, threat to life, intimidation, trespass, and obtaining by false pretence—charges he strongly denies. The dispute began when a group of investors reportedly agreed to…

SENEGALESE star and former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane has become a father for the first time after welcoming a baby girl with his 19-year-old wife, Aisha Tamba. The couple, who married in an Islamic arranged ceremony in January 2024, kept their relationship private before revealing their union after the wedding. The 32-year-old Al-Nassr forward marked the joyous occasion by dedicating his goal in Al-Nassr’s 3-1 victory over Al-Kholood on Friday to his newborn daughter. Mane celebrated by cradling his arms, beaming with pride after doubling his team’s lead, following Cristiano Ronaldo’s opening goal. Mane’s club, Al-Nassr, confirmed the birth of…

ON October 19, hundreds of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Hamad School in Beit Lahiya heard what everyone in the Palestinian enclave dreads. “At dawn, we heard [Israeli] tanks encircling the school, and quadcopters overhead began ordering everyone to get out,” Amal al-Masri, 30, who had given birth to her youngest daughter so recently she had not named her yet when the tanks came, recalled. People were already tense after shelling and explosions throughout the night – the adults too scared to sleep, the children crying in fear and confusion. “Buildings were being shelled all around us,” said Amal, who…

AT least 59 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in a devastating fire at a packed nightclub in Kocani in North Macedonia, according to Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski. The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that arrest warrants have been issued for four individuals in connection with the fire. The blaze erupted at the Pulse club at about 3am (02:00 GMT) on Sunday during a concert by the band DNK when pyrotechnics were set off inside the venue in Kocani, located about 100km (62 miles) east of the capital, Skopje. Videos posted on social media networks and shot…

BENEATH the broken earth of the besieged Sudanese city of El-Fasher in the western region of Darfur, Nafisa Malik clutches her five children close. As shells rain down, the 45-year-old mother tries to shield them in a cramped hole barely big enough to crouch in. “Time slows down here,” Malik said, from her home near El-Fasher’s Hajer Gadou market. “We sit in the darkness, listening, trying to guess when it’s over,” she told AFP by phone. For almost two years the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudan’s army have waged a war that has killed tens of thousands. United…

LIBYA’s education minister has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison because of a textbook shortage dating back to 2021, the attorney general’s office announced on Sunday. The Tripoli court of appeal also fined Moussa al-Megarief 1,000 dinars (about $200) and deprived him of his civil rights for the duration of his sentence and a year afterwards, the same source said in a statement on Facebook. Megarief, a member of the national unity government, was accused of “violating the principle of equality,” interceding in favour of an unnamed party, and “favouritism in contract management … over the…